The Liberal Democrats have predicted they could gain a further five Scottish constituencies on May 5.

Delivering an upbeat assessment, Scottish party leader Jim Wallace said Lib Dems were in confident mood as the general election approaches.

"We are fighting everywhere. Of the top five I have been in all of them. The campaigns are going and I believe we can will in all of them," he said.

"On the morning after polling night I'll be the Scottish leader with the biggest smile on his face."

The Lib Dems are targeting marginal Scottish constituencies such as Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, Dunbartonshire East and Aberdeen South in the May 5 poll.

However Charles Kennedy also hopes to use the Scottish example to show English voters that the Lib Dems are able to achieve their goals when elected to office.

The Holyrood executive has scrapped up-front university tuition fees and introduced proportional representation for local government.

It has also brought in free care for the elderly, all of which the party believes is proof that its policies are not pipe dreams.

Campus support

The Lib Dems have also been buoyed by two new polls of students and higher education lecturers in the Times Higher Educational Supplement.

In university towns such as Edinburgh, Kennedy is hoping his party will cash in on the government's unpopularity over the war in Iraq and top-up fees.

The Times Higher Education Supplement found that 47 per cent of students who have decided who to vote for will back the Lib Dems, compared to 23 per cent support for Labour and 22 per cent for the Conservatives.

Similarly, 44 per cent of academics plan to vote Lib Dem - up from 22 per cent in 2001 - and say that the party has the best higher education policies.

Kennedy said: "At this election, our university towns and cities are key battle grounds. 

"These poll results will send a shiver of apprehension through the Labour camp and confirm that the Conservatives simply cannot win. The momentum is with the Liberal Democrats.

"People are responding to our policy platform and our positive message. This is not just about our pledge to scrap tuition fees, but our agenda of fairness for the country as a whole."